Celebration of Discipline:
The Discipline of Worship
(Downloadable Word document)

Definition:
"Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" (Rev. 4:11).
To worship is to see God as worthy, to ascribe great worth to him.

To worship is to experience the greatness of God (to be fully occupied with the attributes of God) the majesty, beauty, and goodness of His person, powers and perfections. For the individual, worship often involves devotional reflection on the person and work of Jesus Christ as our mediator to the Father. In a corporate setting, believers are untied together in heart and mind to extol the infinite and personal God.

"To worship is to know, to feel, to experience the resurrected Christ in the midst of the gathered community." At its best, worship is being invaded: by the "shekinah" of God - the glory and radiance of God's presence.

The discipline of worship expands our concepts of who God is and what he has done.

Object of Worship: "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve" (Matthew 4:10). Worship allows us to see who God is, by reading about His self-disclosure in Scripture, by meditating on His attributes, and by gazing upon the revelation of His nature in Jesus Christ.
When Jesus was asked about the proper way to worship by the Samaritan woman at the well, He responded that it was not a matter of location (or even position), but a matter of the heart. "The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such the Father seeks to worship Him" (John 4:23). Notice that God seeks us. Worship is the human response to the divine initiative - our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father.

Priority of Worship:
Recognizes the wholeness (all of our being) required in worship - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30).

Preparation for Worship:
Expectancy - to gather expecting God's present and believing God power will be at work (e.g. Acts 4:31). Do we enter into worship expecting to be shaken by the power of God?

Avenues to Worship:
The ordered ways of acting and living that set us before God so He can transform (work with) us.
" Stilling ourselves of all humanly initiated activity - learning to "walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit." (Romans 8:4)
" Praise is the language of worship includes singing, shouting, dancing, rejoicing, adoring.

Steps to Worship:
If these avenues lead to worship there must be steps, we can take along the avenues.
--Practice the presence of God daily (e.g. "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17).

--Have different experiences of worship (e.g. Attend different church services).

--Prepare for the gathered experience of worship i.e., praying for worship leaders and fellow worshippers, quite yourself, meditate.

--Cultivate holy dependency - be completely dependent upon God for anything significant to happen in worship (or anywhere else).

--Absorb distractions with gratitude (e.g., a child playing with paper behind you, praise God for the child).

--Offer a sacrifice of worship. Pray that God will accept your worship on those days when you would rather be almost anywhere else.

Fruits of Worship:
To worship is to change. Worship begins in holy expectancy and ends in holy obedience. If worship does not propel us to greater obedience, it has not been worship.

When we worship, we fill our minds and hearts with wonder at him - the detailed actions and words of his earthly life, his and death on the cross, his resurrection reality, and his work as ascended intercessor.

Discussion Questions:

1. What advantages and disadvantages do you see in the traditional or formalized liturgy used in churches (e.g. Episcopal Church) as opposed to the more contemporary and informal worship forms used in other churches?

2. Robert Barclay, Quaker theologian of 17th century, spoke of the Quaker worship experience as "being gathered in the power of the Lord." He was obviously referring to more than the fact that they had come together in the same room. Discuss what the phrase might mean, and consider what could be done to encourage a fuller sense of that experience at FBC.

3. What forms of Christian worship have you experienced that have been especially meaningful to you? Describe your sense of why these forms of worship were more meaningful than others. Name one form of worship that impresses you even though you would not choose it for yourself.